By popular demand (mostly from my immediate family and a few friends) I’ve decided to come out of my blog coma to share a few pictures of the little Be-Bop’s first birthday party. Also, I just paid to renew my blog (that’s right people, I pay actual money just to share my self-proclaimed wit with the world). So, I decided I should really get back on the blog train. The truth is, I like blogging – I’ve just had a whole lot of other life going on… but what mom doesn’t. Anyway, the point is… the past year went by way too fast. I think I might start blogging again just so I’ve got another way to remember things.

Who knows, maybe I’ll even work up the confidence to start sharing outfits again circa 2012 and my Swearing off Shopping days… one year has gone by since I had a baby, and it turns out I do still [sometimes] like wearing clothes other than sweatpants (I mean, I’ve been looking super cute and stylish lately – only sharing that with my coworkers and random strangers on the street is just inconsiderate). And maybe – just maybe, this public display of my life might also serve as a form of entertainment for you while you’re bored at work, procrastinating, or having a crappy day… just as it once did. No promises.

To be clear, I only changed her clothes twice on the 4th of July – the rest she wore in the week leading up to it. On the 4th, she wore her star dress in the morning, we changed her into that little swimsuit for the pool, and we put on this firework romper post swim… Trust me, my little peanut is not the “play” dress up type. We do not change clothes unless we have a good reason. Here’s to “Tiny Style Tuesday” and me actually keeping up with something for once… You’ll most likely just get a couple of pictures each week. Admittedly, I went a little crazy for the red, white, and blue on this little stinker’s first 4th of July… :)

So, since my last post… I’ve gone back to work, MJ has started giggling, she sleeps through the night like a champ and says “Mama” when she cries. Nugget remains terrified of garbage trucks, and I have started counting down the days until summer…

My apologies for this little 2 month hiatus, but MY GOODNESS let’s take a second to give it up for working Mom’s, as well as stay at home Mom’s… I’ve dabbled in both – You think you know, but you have no idea.

I have absolutely no clue where the past 2 months have gone, but I know I have loved every single second with more love drunk heart moments than I knew I was capable of feeling pre-ladywithababy. This week, I started thinking about the blog again, so MJ and I took a couple selfies. We will display them here for your viewing pleasure:

Fact: Taking pictures before work is always a better idea than taking them after. Clearly, I’ve forgotten that. This little peanut is just like her Mama… don’t you dare try to take a picture of her if she’s not in the mood. Nugget is feeling shy, but he wanted to let you know he’s still awesome.

And this is us pretending to be morning people. Her face in this picture makes me laugh… She’s clearly already figured out how to fake a smile, even when she doesn’t mean it. Just as I am doing on a morning when I’ve spent the night before grading community college student essays until 2am. Her pretend smile is a whole lot cuter than mine in her little green cargo pants, and trumpette socks that look like yellow flats. Today’s lesson: Embrace Messy Hair

There is a whole lot of inspiration out there for maternity fashion… even I was one of those preggos brave enough to contribute that business. I, however, as a new mom have decided that there is not nearly enough out there about post-pregnancy style. This is a situation I have taken upon myself to rectify as it was one of those “I wish someone would have told me” moments in my life… All of the outfit pictures below were taken between 1 day and 12 weeks postpartum. (Miraculously, I didn’t completely neglect my blog to enjoy every possible moment of my maternity leave with my baby… I was still thinking about you, little reader.)

LESSON 1: plan to wear sweatpants for AT LEAST the first 2 weeks (but probably the first month… maybe 2). I spent way more time than I should have (10 whole minutes) trying to decide what I would wear home from the hospital… I packed several options, and went with the sweatpant – zip up hoodie combo for my departure from the hospital because it was the most comfortable. I promise you… you won’t care what you’re wearing. at all.

In addition… tell yourself right now you’re also not going to care who sees you in your sweatpants (or don’t let anyone see you at all). If you’ve never had a baby, you may not be able to fathom the idea of not getting dressed for two months – I didn’t initially either, but I spent my second week postpartum trying to stuff myself into clothes I hated because my inlaws were staying with us. The physical act of moving in any way made me want to cry (though that would have been the case no matter what I wore, it was just way worse a result of my stupidity). I longed for the days a week earlier where I could just stay in my pajamas all day and not worry about what anyone would think… As a matter of fact, I’m amending lesson 1 – stay in your pajamas for a month, and then maybe upgrade to sweatpants after that. If you HAVE to go somewhere (i.e. your babies first check up, a quick run to target), then let me present lesson #2:

LESSON 2: buy a poncho. If you’re pregnant, or you know someone who is. Go buy a poncho. And not an ugly one. A cute one. One you, or the one you love enough to purchase a poncho for will feel good about. I wore this guy every time I left the house for the first month… it worked with leggings as well as with the jeans I wasn’t able to zip because I could easily hide the fact that they weren’t fully zipped. This was four weeks after giving birth. Unzippable denim in all its glory.

LESSON 3: go into your closet and collect all of the baggiest sweaters and sweatshirts you own. You will be most comfortable in these for the first 6 weeks, and probably into the third month. It’s similar to the poncho theory, only it’s a nice gradual step toward dressing like a grown up again (because you can accessorize with a scarf. I know right? real mature). This was also about four weeks postpartum… I wore it to MJ’s one month check up.

LESSON 3: if you have to get dressed up for any reason, don’t wait until two hours before to find an outfit to wear thinking you have at least something in your closet that will fit… I had to attend a baby shower about 5 weeks after giving birth, and not a single dress in my closet fit me… I was able to find one skirt I could squeeze into, but to this day, I still don’t think there is a single pre-pregnancy dress or dress shirt I’m able to wear (I guess this is good news if you were unhappy with your chest size prior to getting pregnant). That day, I made a quick run to Target, found a shirt that kind of went with the skirt I had, and this was the result:

LESSON 4: it takes time, and you’re probably gonna be squishy for a while. This picture was taken 7 weeks postpartum, and I won’t lie to you… my leggings are pulled up so high. If they were jeans, they’d require a 6 inch zipper… I call them “mom leggings”, or “meggings”.

LESSON 5: so worth it. I’ll be totally honest because I’ve got nothing to lose (metaphorically speaking). I lost 30 pounds between the day I went into labor and my six week postpartum doctor appointment. By some standards that might be considered a weight loss miracle for someone who didn’t exercise, ate a ton of cookies, and barely slept for six weeks, but it’s really not when you consider what a pregnant woman is carrying around in the final weeks. It’s been three months since I gave birth, and while I’m only 5 or 6 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, I’m still not able to fit into most of my pre-pregnancy clothes. My wardrobe is made up of a whole lot of extra smalls, 2’s, and 4’s… I am not any of those sizes right now, and I’ve never been more okay with that in my life. Who wears an extra small anyway? Honestly. Yes, working out and eating healthy is still a priority (starting now – it is a new year after all…) Maybe I’ll get back down to those sizes, or maybe I’ll continue to stay a size above. My current shape and size are the result of carrying the most beautiful human I’ve ever laid eyes on. The squishy-ness of my stomach gives her a place to stand her little feet up on, it provides a comfy cushion when I hold her, and the clothes I used to care so much about are just clothes. Do I still love fashion? Of course. Will I keep posting outfits? Probably. But for now, I’m just going to continue to focus on breathing in every little adorable thing she does…